Tiny House Blog

Guest Post by Craig MacDonald

I have been a follower of the Tiny House Blog for a few years and was really intrigued by what it might be like to live in a small home. My wife and I searched for land for a few years, but could never find the right piece of ground. She was convinced that she wanted a place on the water and I was convinced that the only piece of land that we could afford near water would be the size of a postage stamp.

We finally found the perfect spot while exploring a part of our state that we had never seen before. While it is only 85 miles as the crow flies from our home in the city, and about 150 miles by road, it feels like we are in another country. It turns out we didn’t by land near water, but found 30 acres of heaven on earth of highland pasture.

I was at first determined that I wanted to build a tiny house like the Tumbleweed, but was convinced (coerced) by my wife and daughter that 100 square feet just wasn’t going to keep us all happy. I’m glad that I listened! We also bought property in a “development” which requires that homes be a minimum of 500 square feet. With some creative math we were just able to sneak over the 500 square foot threshold. The main part of the cabin is 320 square feet with a 100 square foot bedroom on the back of the cabin. We have two lofts which are connected by a “catwalk” which adds about another 100 square feet. We use a ladder to get up to the lofts and when not in use the ladder retracts into the bottom of the catwalk to give the main cabin more room. Continue Reading »

LEAP Adaptive sells modern, green home plans online and they have recently designed their smallest home plan and are making it available to owners, contractors and architects. The Hummingbird is a 480-square-foot home that is energy efficient and utilizes a passive photovoltaic framework, low-VOC materials and the latest in green technology.

The Hummingbird has a living and kitchen area with a fire-ribbon fireplace (which requires no venting) and a large, covered deck which LEAP calls a “chill” space. A small bedroom and bathroom suite are also included. Plans for the hummingbird are priced at $995, the building kit is around $55,000 and an on-site built Hummingbird is about $80,000 which does not include the general contractor fee, building or permit fees.

Other green options included in the Hummingbird are:

• Cement board or teak siding
• Trex recycled content-engineered deck planking
• Low-mass Structural Insulated Panels
• Multi-unit sliding glass doors with dual-pane Low-E glass
• Simpson “Strong-Wall” seismic resisting brace-frames
• Low-flow plumbing fixtures
• EnergyStar rated Heat-pump HVAC system, lighting and on-demand water heater

LEAP Adaptive is a home design group in San Diego, California. Design director Brian Darnell has spent the last 22 years designing multi-million-dollar residential estates, but realized that “the lust for size and granduer has given way to the realization that the economics and ecology of our flattening world can no longer support such extravagance.” LEAP seeks to create environmental designs that are easier on the owner’s wallet as well as on the earth.

Image Courtesy of LEAP Adaptive

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

I showed off the Crib a couple of weeks back in the newsletter, and it has been featured on a couple of the other tiny house blogs, but I feel it is a very worthy design and worth sharing as a post here on the Tiny House Blog.

Great for a weekend cabin, backyard office, studio or guest house. The Crib, takes its basic form from a traditional American corn cribs which were common farm buildings that served to store and dry corn as well as protect it.

The Full Crib starts as a well insulated base building that provides approximately 250 square feet of enclosed space, and an additional 125 square feet of exterior deck space. Various components can be added to the package to create the shelter that fits your needs. Continue Reading »

Peter Sing from Sing Home contacted me yesterday to announce a Spring Sale. Here is what Peter is offering.

We are offering a Spring Sing Tiny Home Kit sale. Almost any DIY person can put together in there back yard with 20 pieces of Sing Panels they can build a 8’ x 14’ house on a trailer. The regular price of each panel was $250.00 each now half price for Tiny House blog readers $125.00 per panel. Click here to see how to build. The entire trailer weight approximate 2600 lbs.

So for $2,500 you can buy the Sing Tiny House Home Kit. Contact Sing Home at 360-495-3577 or email [email protected] and visit the website here.

Clean, green and eye-catching. For fans of prefab tiny houses, these three words describe the beautiful designs of Cabin Fever, based in Irvine, California and Miami, Florida. Their prefab designs encompass everything that you need in a tiny house including green design, customization, various size options and simple but elegant details. The prices are not bad either.

The Cabin Fever cabins are built in the factory, then disassembled, packed and shipped to the customer, to be reassembled on-site. This process (along with the permit process) can take about five months. Their cabin packages contain pre-built wall sections, an engineered roof and precision cut components. All hardware, nuts and bolts, screws and nails, and a full set of engineered architectural drawings are included. Depending on local soil conditions, codes and site grade, cabins can be built on a concrete slab or a wood timber foundation system. Continue Reading »

Luke Danielson sent me this interesting concept for an outhouse that I thought would work for someone with a tiny house. Here is what Daniel has to say about his design:

I was skeptical at first but after reading Humanure (everyone should read this book!) I was inspired to design an outhouse that incorporates a composting toilet. I know there are many out there that have been doing this exact thing for years, but I’d like to think that with the use of SIPs, the Trösta (“comfort” in Swedish) could be one of the most efficient.

With R-28 closed-cell SIP walls, roof, and floor, the unit would require very little input to heat or cool. Plus, with temperature being crucial to the composting process, it just makes sense to have a highly insulated outhouse. I designed it with the use of 4×8, 4×9, and 4×10 sheets of OSB to keep scrap and price to a minimum. With is being a bit larger than typical outhouses, you could use that extra space as a storage shed, or even split it with a divider wall for two toilets for a Men’s and Women’s unit. Continue Reading »

I’ve covered the Solargon a couple of times before as I think it is a very efficient home and has a very unique design. This home featured here is a 30 foot version and though not a tiny home it fits well into the small home size.

Doug Kirk from Solargon Homes contacted me to let me know that they are having a special Stimulus Sale with big savings on their 20′ and 30′ models. He wanted me to share with you this information. To get all the information visit their site.

Doug also mentioned that they are happy to say that Bob Sutherland of Sutherland Lumber is the proud owner of a 30’ Solargon with 10’ walls just west of Loveland, Colorado. There are over 60 Sutherland Lumber stores; so Bob could have built any number of buildings for his private mountain family retreat home. So when he decided to assemble a Solargon we asked him why. Continue Reading »